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So how many members of the service or government contractors have rotated through Dayton? How many health care professionals from elsewhere have landed in Dayton? How about university professors and students?

My husband and I are from Chicagoland, so we're transplants. We are also in the minority in that we chose to live in the city rather than Beavercreek. Hardly a month goes by without someone from the 'burbs lecturing my husband at work on the base about how 'dangerous' it is where we live. Same with my sister who works at Grandview--a vast majority of her nurse/doctor coworkers are from outside of Dayton. The transplants here are hesitant to integrate it seems.

"Or is it just part of the Dayton 'culture'? There have been several articles over the years detailing how banks are hesitant to loan money to investors that focus on Dayton because of the image acting contrary to the reality, so why continue to push this image of an urban hellscape at the expense of the region at large?"

I was one of those negative Dayton people but I think the city is actually doing a lot better, particularly the close-in-to-downtown areas. A lot of projects have been announced or are about to happen. Things that I never thought would happen (like renovating that old power station on E Third) are under development. Yeah there are still issues with neighborhood decline in outlying areas, etc, but still not "Little Detroit".

I'm sort of tired/bored with this entire negative thing and have moved on from that POV. Dayton isn't the place I would like, but I like what it does have and see there is progress.

Oh my gosh, have we converted the famous Dayton Sux?

I cannot wait to see that power station when it's finished; the pics from it when it was vacant are so promising. Yeah, we even have a farmer's market in Five Oaks now! We're all fancy.

Compared to a lot of places I have lived in and been to Dayton really is not that bad, and these places that are worse are filled with homers that think they live in the best place on earth so their issues will never be addressed. If people in Dayton held their elected officials feet to the fire and voted them out if they did not deliver results things would change fast, they could use inmates to clean up the trash, go after the owners of delinquent properties, etc.

Glad to see these responses, I think they are very fair and I'd agree with them.

If we are looking through a metro-only lens, I'd agree that Dayton has more to offer than most cities of its size, if anything because its metro is larger, but also because of a lot of strokes of luck (like the USAF Museum due to being the birthplace of flight, the great bike trail system due to topography and the legacy of Huffy bicycles/Rails to Trails, etc.)

But what I think really makes Dayton better than most mid-sized metros (and I'm noticing this greatly living in isolated southern Indiana for the time being) is the very close proximity to two other large metros. The way I see it, there's almost everything you could want or need within an hour's reach, which is pretty amazing for a mid-sized metro.

Compared to a lot of places I have lived in and been to Dayton really is not that bad, and these places that are worse are filled with homers that think they live in the best place on earth so their issues will never be addressed. If people in Dayton held their elected officials feet to the fire and voted them out if they did not deliver results things would change fast, they could use inmates to clean up the trash, go after the owners of delinquent properties, etc.

There are inmates cleaning up trash. Powell Rd in Huber a few days ago The problem, nobody wants to come pick up the full bags! Huber said it's the county's problem. Gee, do I dare call the county and ask them? Nah, they'll say it's Huber's issue

Dayton is becoming one place where first-time homebuyers can afford the market. The area in Fairborn near WSU appears to have several options in the $70-$100K range. I've considered it... I've found college town areas generally have whatever amenities I need to be content.

I find the older homes in the city of Dayton appealing, but I get concerned when I don't know the lay of the land... neighborhood boundaries, areas that are block-by-block, etc. The area near UD (which I think is a Catholic university) has a new retail strip in a row of rehabbed buildings. There was an older residential neighborhood alongside that strip, but I couldn't tell from the looks of it whether it's trending up or what the residents were like.

I've been downtown Dayton for a festival and felt safe and comfortable, no different than in any other city. The people were nice, I didn't run into anyone that day who was rude or obnoxious. I left with a good impression of Dayton.

Dayton is becoming one place where first-time homebuyers can afford the market. The area in Fairborn near WSU appears to have several options in the $70-$100K range. I've considered it... I've found college town areas generally have whatever amenities I need to be content.

I find the older homes in the city of Dayton appealing, but I get concerned when I don't know the lay of the land... neighborhood boundaries, areas that are block-by-block, etc. The area near UD (which I think is a Catholic university) has a new retail strip in a row of rehabbed buildings. There was an older residential neighborhood alongside that strip, but I couldn't tell from the looks of it whether it's trending up or what the residents were like.

I've been downtown Dayton for a festival and felt safe and comfortable, no different than in any other city. The people were nice, I didn't run into anyone that day who was rude or obnoxious. I left with a good impression of Dayton.

UD area may be trending up, but the crime problems seem to be going up also.

That's awesome you guys have a farmer's market in Five Oaks! Is it affiliated with the ones that shows up downtown at Wright Stop Plaza?

They're not affiliated, I think. It's small, but very affordable. I set up a small booth last summer and ended up spending all of my profit on veggies. Oh well.

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